You might be using the latest antivirus software and even the latest anti-spyware software. But is that enough to keep your data safe?
Not by a long shot, say security experts.
"People have taken the obvious steps to secure their computers," Neil MacDonald, security analyst at technology market research firm Gartner said. "But they're wide open in other areas.
MacDonald joins other security experts in putting out the word that securing your data and personal information in the digital age requires a multi-pronged approach and a constant awareness that your data could easily fall into the wrong hands.
The consequences of not being as careful as you should be are grave.
"There are many folks out there waiting for you to get careless with your data," said Stephen Warren, chief information officer of the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
Identity theft is on the rise worldwide, and consumer fraud that results from scammers gaining access to individuals' financial account information is a growing threat. In the US alone, one out of 10 people fall victim to identity theft or consumer fraud each year, according to the US National Fraud Information Center.
And the threat is not all Internet-related, experts say. Users should ask themselves what would happen, for example, if someone stole their notebook computer or otherwise got access to their hard drives. Would account information be stored there? User names and passwords? Financial records?
"Security is low in many areas," MacDonald said.
But going from minimally secured to very secure is not difficult, nor does it require much, if any, money. Outside of using antivirus software, most security measures you should take consist of using the tools already at your disposal and applying some common sense.
First, secure your wireless network
If you're running an unsecured wireless network at home, you're asking for trouble. By default, all wireless networking hubs -- the main device that enables someone to turn a cable, DSL, or ISDN connection into a wireless home network -- are unsecured.
That means that anyone with wireless Internet access could access your network and inspect any data available there.
"People must take steps to secure the wireless networks," said Don Blumenthal, Internet lab coordinator at the FTC.
That means learning to use the setup program of your wireless hub to ensure that WEP security is enabled, and require that anyone who logs on to your wireless network provide a password that you create.
Second, secure your e-mail
Do you ever send account information, passwords, user names and other sensitive personal information to yourself or others via e-mail?
Don't, say experts -- unless you have some type of e-mail encryption system in place.
"The adoption of secure, encrypted e-mail is fairly low," MacDonald said. "It's difficult because there's no widespread, widely adopted standard for different parties to exchange and receive encrypted e-mail."
So until e-mail encryption is easier to use and standards are widespread, MacDonald said that common-sense measures may be the best: don't send anything in an e-mail message that you wouldn't want someone else to see if your computer were stolen or hacked into.
If you do want to look into encryption, Microsoft's Outlook e-mail program makes it easier than most. Start composing an e-mail message in Outlook, but before sending it, click the Options button on the message window toolbar.
In the Options dialog box, click the Security Settings button. In the resulting Security Properties dialog box, select "Encrypt message contents and attachments." Click OK and then close.
When you click the Send button, you'll see an E-Mail Security dialog box, which will walk you through the steps of signing up for a service that allows you to send your e-mail messages securely. Verisign, one of the services, has a 60-day free trial and costs under US$20 per year tnes with regularity is to ensure that your antivirus software is up-to-date and your operating system has the latest security updates.
"The time between a threat being discovered and the time that many update their software to deal with the threat often stretches to weeks," MacDonald said. "If you can't get a critical patch employed in seven days or fewer, you need to look hard at your process."
Warren suggests that users avail themselves of the automatic update facility in every important piece of software, including Windows and antivirus programs. Also, after installing an antivirus program, immediately download the latest updates and apply them.
Third, password-protect your files
Most programs these days allow you to password-protect individual files.
Take advantage of these features, Blumental said.
"Since Windows 2000, you've also been able to encrypt files and folders at the operating system level," he said.
Look in the Windows help file under "encrypt a file or folder" for specific instructions.
Even though computer users live in a world increasingly beset by security threats, your PC and data do not have to be easy to exploit. Most of the tools for data security are already at your disposal. Use them, and sleep better at night.
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